Diabetes notices alarm Palm Beach teachers

Some Palm Beach County teachers say they received mailings from United Healthcare this week informing them they were at risk for diabetes -- news they had never heard from their doctors.

United Healthcare sent its "Healthy Living Diabetes Health Plan" to at least 5,000 school district employees, or about a quarter of the workforce. The health plan provides discounted co-payments and prescriptions to employees whose medical lab tests identified them as either diabetic or pre-diabetic, according to the district and United.

But several teachers said they found the mailings alarming, since it was the first time they'd ever heard about any diabetes risk.

"It was very upsetting. What if the condition had been that I was HIV positive or had cancer?" asked Michael Woods, who teaches learning disabled students at Santaluces High School, west of Lantana. "Since August, I've been running 12, 15, 20 miles a day training for a marathon. If I were diabetic, I could be putting my life in danger."

Woods said he called his doctor, who told him he was not at risk for diabetes. A United Healthcare customer service representative told him the notice was sent in error, he said.

But whether that is accurate is a matter of dispute. Officials from the school district and United Healthcare say the notices were properly sent out, and they don't know why customer service reps would have told patients otherwise.

Lisa Wilkerson, a teacher at Royal Palm School, west of Lake Worth, received a pamphlet and letters from United Healthcare about the program. She said a representative told her multiple times it was a "major glitch" and she should disregard it.

Not so, said Elizabeth Calzadilla-Fiallo, a Florida spokeswoman for United Healthcare.

"There is no glitch, no error…These individuals had some sort of medical exam or whatever that identified them as potentially being at risk," she said.

Wilkerson said she has concerns about how the information might be used.

"I know there are people who don't qualify for life insurance if they're considered diabetic," she said. "I'm concerned it may hit the Medical Information Bureau that I was pre-diabetic or something."

Officials from the school district and the insurer say the information is used only to reward employees who take steps to reduce their risk, such as getting certain screenings. Participants can qualify for discounted premiums and prescription drug costs under the voluntary program, officials say.

The program has been in place for three years and studies have shown it has been successful at lowering the risk factors for diabetes, district and insurance officials say. Those who have voiced concerns received the notices for the first time, Calzadilla-Fiallo said.

Ideally, patients would hear from their doctors but there's no guarantee that happens, said Dianne Howard, director of risk and benefits management for the school district.

"Sometimes doctors get busy. Sometimes you get a blood test and your doctor might not say anything. Maybe the patient was on the low end" of the risk scale, she said.

About 79 million adults in the United States have pre-diabetes, United Healthcare says. Pre-diabetes, when left untreated, often graduates to full-blown type 2 diabetes, which can be both "physically and financially devastating" for patients and costly for their employers, according to a company statement.